TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
Many Arizonans are gun owners, but did you know more and more of those owners are women .
A recent Gallup poll found 23 percent of women say they own a gun.
That's up from 13 percent in 2005.
So the big question is: What's driving the spike?
We found some answers at a local shooting range.
There was a time, just a couple of years ago, you would never see a pink gun grip or a pink camouflage gun case. But times are changing. More women are buying firearms and learning how to use them.
Nowadays you're just as likely to see women at a shooting range as men.
It can be for sport, for recreation and, very often, for self-defense.
"We've had a number of women who've had some not-so-nice things happen in their lives and they felt like they needed something to be an equalizer," says Barbara O'Connell, co-owner of The Marksman Pistol Institute and Marksman II.
O'Connell says it has been only in the last few years that she has seen a dramatic jump in the number of women buying guns.
She says any stigma attached to women owning and firing guns is disappearing.
O'Connell says women are pretty good shots, but they first have to learn how to safely use a gun, and they need to practice.
"I don't believe a woman should go out and buy a gun and put it in her purse and say 'I'm protected' because she's not. She will become a victim if she does that," O'Connell says.
Some of the women we talked were practicing and getting used to a firearm.
They go to the range for all sorts of reasons.
Some go with the idea that they might buy a firearm in the future.
"Probably more protection than anything. I don't think the world's really doing that great any more," says Tucsonan Jackie Kurz.
Laura Hersey, also of Tucson, explains why she's at the range. "I think I'm a good shot. I used to target practice more often with friends in my earlier days, but it's been a while and I just thought it would be fun."
Whatever the reason, women at the range seemed comfortable, more empowered, less vulnerable.
"I feel like if I have a gun and I know how to use it, I'm confident about using it, then I have an edge. I have an edge that would get me out of a serious situation," says winter visitor Geri Williams.
The Marksman's Barbara O'Connell expects the trend to continue.
She says more and more women will be buying guns for recreation, sport and self-defense.
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